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,V8    F49    1917 
lilliam  J.    b.    1861. 
Lred  years   ago  and 


LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 


MAR   1  ? 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


Two  Hundred  Years  Ago  and  After 


By  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Finck,  D.  D. 


It  does  not  require  two  hundred  years  to  produce  great  changes. 
Every  one  will  acknowledge  that  our  own  generation  has  been  priv- 
ileged to  witness  the  greatest  development  as  plainly  shown  by  the 
long  chain  of  practical  inventions  the  benefits  of  which  we  are  now 
enjoying.  At  the  Centennial  Exhibition  in  1876  a  telephone  operated 
between  the  Main  Building  and  the  Machinery  Hall,  two  adjacent 
structures,  was  regarded  the  wonder  of  the  age  ;  today  the  telephone 
carries  a  message  of  the  human  voice  from  shore  to  shore.  The  elec- 
tric light  was  but  a  dream  at  the  same  time,  but  the  World's  Fair  in 
1893,  only  seventeen  years  later,  was  flooded  with  the  splendor  of 
electric  lights.  If  progress  so  great  can  be  noted  in  one  generation, 
how  surprised  the  Lutheran  fathers  that  settled  in  Virginia  in  1717 
would  be  to  see  the  immense  changes  in  agriculture,  transportation, 
industrial  arts,  warfare,  and  the  operations  of  the  Church,  that  are 
now  so  common  to  our  eyes.  The  tractor  on  the  farm  ;  the  locomo- 
tive and  automobile  in  the  country  and  the  city;  the  Bessemer  steel 
works  among  industrial  enterprises  ;  the  machine  gun,  the  aeroplane, 
and  the  submarine  in  warfare  ;  and  the  vast  missionary  and  educa- 
tional operations  in  the  religious  world,  would  surely  astonish  them 
beyond  measure. 

By  far  more  difficult  it  would  be  for  them  to  look  forward  from 
their  day  to  ours,  than  it  will  be  for  us  on  this  anniversary  occasion 
to  look  back  to  their  day.  Our  difficulty  will  lie  in  properly  learning 
the  lessons  that  this  occasion  should  teach  us  ;  namely,  to  sympa- 
thize with  them  in  their  trials  and  troubles,  to  appreciate  their  efforts 
which  seem  so  modest  to  us  in  these  days  of  big  things,  and  to  apply 
an  equal  amount  of  earnestness,  devotion,  and  self-sacrifice  in  the 
performance  of  our  Christian  duty. 

The  history  of  the  German  immigrants  that  first  touched  the  soil 
of  Virginia  in  1717,  begins  in  America  with  eight  years  of  subject 
service  to  pay  for  their  transportation  across  the  stormy  sea,  preceded 
by  a  voyage  of  many  months  during  which  they  suffered  all  the  pangs 
that  poverty,  want,  hunger  and  disease  can  bring  to  the  human 
frame.  Bound  for  Pennsylvania,  they  were  driven  from  their  course 
by  the  storms  of  the  sea  and  passing  through  the  capes  of  the  Chesa- 
peake sailed  up  one  of  its  arms  and  landed,  very  likely  at  Tappahan- 


nock  on  the  southside  of  the  Rappahannock  River.  Without  means 
to  pay  the  charges  for  their  transportation,  they  were  rescued  by 
Governor  Alexander  Spottswood,  who  paid  the  costs  and  indentured 
them  as  his  servants  to  work  for  him  in  his  iron  mines  for  eight  years. 
When  the  time  of  service  had  been  fulfilled,  the  Governor  seemed 
unwilling  to  further  them  on  their  way  to  secure  homes  of  their  own, 
but  desired  to  hold  them,  and  brought  suit  against  some  of  them  for 
failure  to  fulfill  their  obligations.  The  court  having  freed  those  that 
were  sued,  all  of  these  colonists  took  up  their  slight  possessions  and 
following  the  trail  of  the  Indians  to  the  westward  found  promising 
fields  near  the  foothills  of  the  Blue  Ridge  on  both  sides  of  the  Robin- 
son River.  Their  eyes  beheld  the  mighty  oaks  and  the  running 
streams  of  fresh  water,  and  they  concluded  that  here  they  could  find 
homes  for  their  families  and  a  place  to  worship  God  according  to 
their  faith.  Their  labors  on  this  journey  and  in  establishing  new 
homes  in  the  wilderness,  were  most  arduous,  and  the  obstacles  were 
hard  to  overcome,  but  they  realized  the  truth  the  unknown  poet  ex- 
presses in  these  lines  : 

"There  are  briers  besetting  every  path, 
That  call  for  patient  care  ; 
There  are  trials  and  griefs  in  every  lot, 

And  a  need  for  earnest  prayer — 
But  a  lowly  heart  that  leans  on  God 
Is  happy  everywhere." 

Eight  years  they  labored  thus  together  without  a  minister.  No  doubt 
they  erected  upon  the  elevated  spot  now  occupied  by  this  church  a 
log  house  to  serve  the  purposes  of  a  school  and  a  place  of  worship,  as 
early  as  1725.  or  1726.  But  in  1738,  having  received  financial  help 
from  Germany,  they  began  to  make  preparations  to  build  this  sanc- 
tuary in  which  we  are  assembled  this  morning.  With  much  labor 
they  made  by  hand  the  nails,  hinges,  locks  and  keys,  and  all  iron 
work,  in  their  own  shops.  They  cut  and  sawed  all  the  woodwork, — 
sills,  girders,  joists,  studding,  beams,  boards,  weatherboarding,  ceil- 
ing boards,  frames,  doors,  sash,  and  the  like, — with  unceasing  care 
and  industry.  We  can  form  a  better  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  their 
labors  by  viewing  through  the  manhole  reached  from  the  east  gallery 
the  vaulted  ceiling  which  at  the  present  time  is  hidden  by  the  flat 
ceilings  that  were  built  more  than  a  hundred  years  later.  With  much 
skill  and  industry,  faith  and  consecration  this  work  was  done,  and  a 
temple  reared  to  their  Father  in  heaven  far  beyond  anything  they 
had  built  for  themselves.  They  lived  in  log  houses,  and  their  barns 
and  stables  were  log  structures,  but  to  their  God  in  heaven  they  ded- 
icated this  large   and   stately  temple  with   its  ^igh  vaulted   ceilings. 

UBHAHV  OF  PRINCETON 

MAR  1  7  2000 

■ 

Geological  seminary 


When  it  was  completed  they  marked  the  date  1740  upon  the  side  of 
the  girder  overhead.  Many  of  my  hearers  may  live  to  celebrate  the 
Bicentennial  of  the  erection  of  this  sanctuary  in  1940.  It  deserves  a 
worthy  commemoration. 

But  today  we  are  celebrating  a  congregational  event,  and  not  Un- 
building of  the  church.  The  people  who  have  worshiped  in  this 
sanctuary  these  many  years  past,  began  their  career  in  America  two 
hundred  years  ago.  It  is  proper  therefore  that  we  turn  our  attention 
to  the  history  of  this  congregation  and  seek  to  find  in  its  life  of  two 
hundred  years  a  few  reasons  that  justify  the  holding  of  this  Bicen- 
tennial Celebration  ;  or,  in  other  words,  endeavor  to  answer  the  ques- 
tion, What  has  this  congregation  done  in  its  existence  of  two  centu- 
ries to  prove  itself  worthy  of  the  commemoration  arranged  for  this 
occasion  ? 

IT  HAS  PRESERVED  ITS  ORGANIZATION  AND  ITS  WORSHIP  IN  THE 
PURE  FAITH  OF  ITS  FOUNDERS. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  nature  of  that  faith  and  of  the  adhe- 
rence of  the  early  settlers  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  to  the  Confes- 
sions of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church.  Every  document  and 
writing  of  the  first  pastors  clearly  shows  that  the  greatest  unanimity 
existed  among  the  people  to  establish  for  themselves  and  their  chil- 
dren their  own  Lutheran  Church  that  they  had  enjoyed  in  their  homes 
across  the  waters,  and  when  in  the  year  1776,  Jacob  Frank,  their 
teacher  and  preacher  sent  to  them  from  Philadelphia,  expressed  that 
faith  in  the  new  constitution  he  prepared,  he  but  put  in  writing  what 
had  been  a  matter  of  confession  with  them  from  the  beginning.  He 
writes  in  Article  I.  :  "The  present  regularly  called  teacher,  and  his 
regularly  called  successors,  are  to  preach  the  Word  of  God  at  the  ap- 
pointed time  on  Sundays  and  festival  days,  at  funerals  and  other 
solemnities,  according  to  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets 
and  the  unaltered  Augsburg  Confession,  publicly,  purely,  briefly, 
plainly,  thoroughly,  and  to  edification." 

And  this  faith  of  their  fathers  was  preserved  among  them  in  spite 
of  the  change  of  language  that  became  necessary  in  later  years.  For 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  years  German  was  the  language  of  this  con- 
gregation, and  the  time  came  when  English  must  be  introduced  on 
account  of  the  young  people  who  no  longer  understood  the  German 
to  edification.  In  our  day  we  have  little  sympathy  with  the  old  Ger- 
mans that  fought  for  the  perpetuation  of  their  mother  tongue.  We 
call  them  narrow  and  bigoted,  and  it  is  true  that  their  opposition 
produced  much  trouble  in  the  history  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in 
America,  and  cost  the  Church  a  tremendous  loss  in  membership  ;  at 
the  same  time  it  becomes  us  to  consider  their  motives  and  to  give 


them  credit  for  what  they  on  their  part  suffered  in  their  conscientious 
struggle  for  what  they  felt  the  existence  of  their  Church  demanded. 
Among  the  most  intelligent  and  spiritually  minded  of  the  German 
Lutherans  of  two  hundred  years  ago  and  afterwards,  there  was  found 
a  very  pure  and  unselfish  motive  for  their  determination  to  maintain 
the  German  and  exclude  the  English,  and  it  is  right  that  on  an  occa- 
sion like  this  we  should  note  this  fact  and  try  to  appreciate  it.  There 
was  a  deep-seated  feeling  in  the  hearts  of  the  most  earnest  of  the  peo- 
ple of  that  day  that  with  the  loss  of  the  German  language  in  the  con- 
gregation the  true  faith  of  their  Church  would  come  to  an  end,  and 
the  effort  to  perpetuate  their  language  meant  the  preservation  of  the 
true  Lutheran  faith.  They  fought  for  their  faith  with  all  the  powers 
within  them,  and  we  know  many  went  entirely  too  far,  but  let  us  not 
forget  why  they  acted  in  this  way.  Their  fears  were  not  ungrounded, 
for  all  around  them  the  samples  of  religion  couched  in  the  English 
language  that  they  saw  were  of  the  rampant,  proselyting,  camp- 
meeting  order  that  filled  their  hearts  with  fears  and  doubts,  alarm 
and  horror. 

The  motive  of  others  that  fought  just  as  hard  was  not  as  unselfish, 
but  their  determination  to  keep  English  out  of  their  Church  was  just 
as  strong  and  belligerent.  They  realized  that  the  German  was  dying 
out  in  the  homes  ;  that  it  was  becoming  harder  and  harder  to  main- 
tain the  German  schools  ;  that  if  it  were  allowed  to  be  displaced  in 
the  services  of  the  Church,  the  last  hold  of  the  German  language 
would  be  gone  and  its  death  certain.  It  follows  that  the  thousands 
that  were  moved  by  this  feeling  joined  hands  with  the  earnest  mem- 
bers of  purer  motives  and  increased  the  severity  of  the  struggle,  the 
one  for  the  preservation  of  their  faith,  the  other  for  the  perpetuation 
of  their  mother  tongue  ;  both  with  united  and  persistent  forces  set 
themselves  against  the  introduction  of  the  English  language  into  the 
Church  they  had  founded  and  built. 

The  struggle  in  the  old  Hebron  Church  was  severe  and  long,  and 
finally  the  German  language  was  heard  no  more,  but  in  spite  of  the 
length  and  severity  of  the  conflict,  the  worship  of  God  in  the  faith  of 
the  founders  was  preserved.  In  reverence  let  us  note  the  changes 
time  brought  to  this  flock  of  God.  "  The  lips  that  first  spoke  in  this 
edifice,  the  ears  that  heard  the  message,  the  language  in  which  it  was 
delivered,  are  here  no  more  ;  but  the  gospel  is  still  the  same,  preached 
in  the  same  faith  and  taught  according  to  the  same  Unaltered  Augs- 
burg Confession." 

Let  us  give  a  moment  to  the  consideration  of  the  love  the  old 
fathers  felt  for  the  German  language.  It  was  the  means  of  their 
thought  and  communication  ;  without  it  they  could  neither  sing,  nor 


pray,  nor  read  the  Word  of   God.     In    it   they   lived,  and    died,  and 
were  buried,  and  expected  to  speak  in  heaven. 

On  this  festive  occasion  the  walls  of  this  ancient  temple  reverberate 
with  echoes,  but  they  are  all  in  the  German  language.  From  the  wall 
to  my  right  I  hear  the  echo,  "Am  Anfang  schuf  Gott  Himmel  und 
Erde,"  which  is  by  interpretation,  "In  the  beginning  God  created 
the  heaven  and  the  earth."  From  my  left  I  hear  "Und  Gott  sprach  : 
Es  werde  Licht.  Und  es  ward  Licht,"  which  is  by  interpretation, 
"And  God  said,  Let  there  be  light :  and  there  was  light."  And  from 
before  me  comes  the  glorious  echo  "Also  hat  Gott  die  Welt  geliebi, 
dass  er  seinen  eingebornen  Sohn  gab,  auf  dass  Alle,  die  an  ihn  glau- 
ben,  nicht  verloren  werden,  sondern  das  ezvige  Leben  haben,"  which 
is  by  interpretation,  "  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  per- 
ish, but  have  everlasting  life."  And  from  all  sides  I  hear  the  harmo- 
nious strains : 

Bin'  feste  Burg  is  unser  Gott, 

Ein'  gute  Wehr  und  Waff  en, 
Er  hilft  uns/rei  aus  alter  Noth, 
Die  unsjetzt  hat  betroffen. 
Der  alt'  boese  Feind, 
Mil  Ernst  ersjetzt  meint, 
Gross  Macht  und  viel  List 
Sein  grausam  Ruestung  ist, 
AufErd'  ist  nicht  seins  gleichen. 
This  is  the  great  battle  hymn  of  the  Reformation  used  so  frequently 
in  all  Lutheran  congregations  and  found  on  the  program  for  today, 
"A  mighty  Fortress  is  our  God." 

But  not  only  in  spite  of  the  change  of  the  language  from  German 
to  English,  but  also  in  spite  of  the  influence  of  all  kinds  of  traveling 
preachers  that  repeatedly  passed  back  and  forth  through  the  commu- 
nity, and  in  spite  of  the  inroads  made  by  the  revivalists  that  held 
forth  in  those  days  at  camp  meetings,  was  the  life  of  the  congregation 
preserved.  Especially  detrimental  to  the  welfare  of  the  Lutherans 
were  the  meetings  held  by  those  who  practiced  immersion.  The 
German  preachers  were  frequently  helpless  at  the  times  of  these  meet- 
ings held  in  the  neighboring  woods,  and  Old  Hebron  suffered  many 
losses,  but  in  spite  of  all  it  preserved  its  organization  and  its  worship 
in  the  pure  faith  of  its  founders. 

IT     HAS   SENT  MANY  OF    ITS    PEOPLE    FAR    AND  WIDE   TO   FORM    OK 
STRENGTHEN   OTHER   LUTHERAN   CONGREGATIONS. 
Old  Hebron  deserves  to  have  its  history  commemorated  because  it 
has  not  been  selfish  and  just  lived  for  itself.     It  has  to  its  credit  two 


daughter  congregations  formed  by  its  people  living  some  distance  from 
the  mother  church,  or  by  a  colony  going  forth  from  its  number.  The 
former  is  located  at  Criglersville,  and  is  served  to  this  day  by  the  pas- 
tor of  Old  Hebron.  The  colony  that  went  forth  from  its  number 
located  in  Boone  County,  Kentucky,  and  in  1806  formed  a  congrega- 
tion, that  for  many  years  was  the  pioneer  Lutheran  Church  in  the  far 
west  beyond  the  mountains.  There  may  be  other  congregations  that 
have  been  formed  in  a  similar  manner,  as  there  are  many  near  and 
far  that  have  been  strengthened  by  the  addition  of  members  coming 
from  Old  Hebron.  In  Anderson,  Indiana,  they  were  heard  of,  and 
the  printed  record  of  the  Gaar  family  was  there  seen  in  the  hands  of 
a  Mr.  Smith,  whose  wife  was  a  descendant  of  this  name.  This  is 
doing  missionary  work  of  a  practical  nature,  and  no  justification  of  a 
congregation  is  so  strong  as  obedience  to  the  Lord's  command  to  do 
mission  work.  The  congregation  that  is  missionary  has  a  right  to 
live.  Old  Hebron  for  years  has  made  its  existence  felt  far  across  the 
mountains,  and  it  is  but  fitting  that  we  should  commemorate  its  two 
hundredth  anniversary  in  this  public  way. 

IT  HAS  SENT  FIVE  SONS  INTO  THE  MINISTRY. 

There  are  not  many  congregations  as  old  as  this  one,  but  there  are 
many  very  old  organizations  that  have  not  given  a  single  young  man 
of  their  number  to  the  service  of  the  Master  in  the  vineyard.  They 
have  consumed  many,  and  produced  none.  Old  Hebron  has  given  at 
least  five  men  to  serve  as  ministers.  The  first  was  William  Carpenter, 
who  after  serving  with  his  father  in  the  Revolution,  studied  for  the 
ministry  under  Christian  Streit  of  Winchester,  was  ordained  by  the 
Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania,  gave  Old  Hebron  twenty-six  years  of 
his  earnestness  and  activity,  after  which  he  followed  the  colonists  to 
Kentucky  and  served  them  in  their  Hopeful  congregation  for  twenty 
years  more,  thus  ending  a  long  life  in  the  Lord's  service. 

The  second  was  Jacob  Crigler,  who,  licensed  by  the  Ministerium  of 
Pennsylvania,  labored  successfully  in  Pennsylvania,  Kentucky,  and 
Ohio.  After  organizing  two  congregations  in  Ohio,  and  assisting  in 
the  organization  of  three  synods  in  various  parts,  he  retired  to  his 
farm  near  Florence,  Kentucky,  and  departed  this  life  at  the  age  of 
seventy-one  years. 

The  third  was  Bellfield  C.  Wayman.  He  was  educated  in  Roanoke 
College  and  ordained  by  the  Virginia  Synod  in  1870.  After  a  service 
of  two  or  three  years  in  Virginia  his  health  failed  and  he  died  in  1873 
at  the  age  of  forty.  He  was  faithful  in  his  calling,  patient  in  suffer- 
ing, tender  and  noble  in  his  feelings,  but  not  spared  for  a  long  service. 

The  fourth  was  James  William  Strickler,  whose  death  was  memo- 
rialized at  the  present  meeting  of  the  Virginia  Synod,  fittingly  in  the 


church  of  his  youth.  He  was  graduated  at  Roanoke  College  and 
ordained  by  the  Southwestern  Virginia  Synod.  Upon  his  ordination 
he  offered  himself  for  the  India  mission  field,  but  he  failed  to  pass 
the  medical  examination  and  devoted  himself  earnestly  to  the  home 
work,  laboring  successfully  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  His  last 
sermon  was  preached  three  days  before  his  death  ;  he  passed  away  in 
his  sixty-first  year,  November  29,  1916,  at  Middlebrook,  Virginia,  and 
was  buried  in  Riverside  cemetery,  Waynesboro,  Va. 

The  fifth  is  John  F.  Crigler,  who  is  the  only  one  of  the  five  still  liv- 
ing, and  who  is  present  on  this  occasion  and  appropriately  assisting 
at  these  commemorative  exercises.  He  was  educated  in  Roanoke 
College,  ordained  in  1896,  and  began  his  ministerial  labors  in  Luther- 
ville,  Md.,  where  in  1903,  he  married  Miss  Edith  Norris  Wolf,  oldest 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  L.  B.  Wolf,  D.  D.,  President  of  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  of  the  General  Synod.  Pastor  Crigler  is  at  this 
time  the  much  beloved  pastor  of  St.  Mark's  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

This  is  a  noble  band  of  men  that  have  been  sent  forth  from  Old 
Hebron.  When  the  people  gather  together  within  these  ancient  walls 
to  celebrate  future  anniversaries,  may  the  number  be  much  increased 
to  the  honor  of  Old  Hebron  ! 

ITS  PASTORS  HAVE  BEEN   MISSIONARY   PASTORS   AND   HAVE  LABORED 
FAR   AND  WIDE. 

An  impression  seems  to  exist  throughout  our  country  that  this  con- 
gregation is  extremely  secluded,  hemmed  in  between  the  Blue  Ridge 
and  the  Robinson  River,  and  that  its  existence  has  been  one  of  isola- 
tion. This  is  far  from  the  truth.  Its  early  pastors  extended  their 
labors  far  beyond  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  church.  Their  first 
pastor,  John  Caspar  Stoever,  reached  them  only  because  he  had  the 
missionary  spirit,  laboring  in  Pennsylvania  and  extending  his  labors 
far  and  wide,  seeking  to  minister  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  coun- 
trymen. His  successor,  George  Samuel  Klug,  though  feeling  his 
isolation  and  the  restrictions  of  the  provincial  government,  is  known 
to  have  made  long  journeys  ;  and  the  traditions  heard  in  Page  County 
of  the  early  visits  of  German  Lutheran  ministers  no  doubt  have  their 
foundation  in  the  work  of  this  pastor  of  the  Hebron  Church. 

The  third  pastor,  John  Schwarbach,  was  an  untiring  missionary. 
He  extended  his  labors  to  a  territory  now  embraced  in  Pendleton, 
Hardy,  and  Hampshire  counties,  West  Virginia.  Here  he  found  the 
Henkels  and  other  Lutherans,  built  a  church  for  them,  and  in  the 
year  1768,  on  one  of  his  monthly  visits,  he  confirmed  a  fourteen  year 


8 

old  boy  by  the  name  of  Paul  Henkel.  It  might  be  well  for  us  to  pause  a 
moment  and  consider  the  significance  of  that  fact.  A  pastor  of  Hebron 
Church  on  a  missionary  journey  found  and  confirmed  Paul  Henkel  ! 
Surely,  we  can  say,  that  if  the  Hebron  congregation  had  done  nothing 
more  than  through  its  pastor  to  discover  Paul  Henkel,  this  commem- 
oration today  would  be  fully  justified. 

Let  us  pause  a  moment  longer.  This  is  missionary  work.  Does 
missionary  work  pay  ?  The  facts  in  this  case  give  us  the  answer  that 
its  pay  is  twofold  :  it  pays  at  home,  and  it  pays  where  the  work  is 
done.  Years  passed  and  William  Carpenter  was  in  training  for  the 
ministry.  A  man,  unfit  and  unworthy,  had  been  preaching  at  Hebron 
Church,  but  the  officers  were  compelled  to  dismiss  him.  His  name 
was  J.  W.  Schmidt.  Paul  Henkel  had  been  licensed  by  the  Ministe- 
rium  of  Pennsylvania  and  heard  of  the  condition  of  affairs  at  Hebron. 
He  came  at  once  and  preached  for  the  congregation.  Later  he  met 
Carpenter  at  the  home  of  Christian  Streit  at  Winchester  and  at  his 
request  he  made  regular  monthly  visits  to  Hebron,  until  Carpenter 
was  able  to  take  up  the  work.  Later  when  the  trouble  arose  in  refer- 
ence to  the  use  of  the  English  language  and  at  the  same  time  the 
Baptist  revival  camp  meetings  were  started  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhood of  Hebron  Church,  and  even  the  pastor's  uncle  was  carried 
into  the  ranks  of  the  immersionists,  Paul  Henkel  came  once  more  to 
the  relief  of  the  distracted  people  at  Carpenter's  request,  preached  in 
Hoffman's  chapel  and  in  the  woods  the  true  Lutheran  doctrine  in  the 
English  language  and  stayed  the  inroads  of  the  revivalists  to  a  great 
extent.  He  also  preached  in  German  for  the  pastor  in  the  Hebron 
Church.  Strange  to  say  Carpenter  for  many  years  was  not  permitted 
by  his  officers  to  preach  in  the  English  language  and  he  was  perfectly 
helpless  in  his  efforts  to  combat  the  assaults  of  the  enemy.  Paul 
Henkel  was  free  and  used  his  freedom  to  the  great  benefit  of  the  agi- 
tated congregation. 

So  we  must  acknowledge  that  missions  pay.  If  the  pastors  of  the 
Hebron  Church  had  not  had  the  missionary  spirit,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  they  could  have  preserved  the  existence  of  the  congregation. 
The  very  life  of  a  church  demands  that  we  move  and  labor  for  the 
welfare  of  others,  and  as  we  are  the  means  of  giving  life  to  others  we 
ourselves  live  and  grow. 

Three  noble  men  come  together  in  the  history  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  America  at  this  time,  a  trio  of  American  native  born  pas- 
tors— Christian  Streit,  Paul  Henkel,  and  William  Carpenter.  Each 
one  in  his  way  helped  to  make  Hebron  Church  a  perpetual  monument 
of  usefulness.  They  did  not  fail,  and  it  is  right  that  we  should  at 
this  time  commemorate  their  unselfish  deeds  and  appreciate  them  as 


among  the  number  that  gave  Hebron  Church  a  noble  and  enduring 
history. 

And  many  others  of  the  pastors  of  the  Hebron  congregation  labored 
successfully  here  in  this  field.  Time  is  not  allowed  us  to  follow  them 
in  their  work  and  to  show  how  they  did  their  part.  Read  their  story 
in  the  excellent  "  History  of  the  Hebron  Lutheran  Church  "  so  ably 
written  by  your  pastor,  the  Rev.  W.  P.  Huddle,  in  the  year  1907. 
Every  member  of  this  congregation,  and  every  descendant  of  the  early 
immigrants  that  settled  on  the  Robinson  River  in  1725,  should  pos- 
sess a  copy,  and  manifest  so  much  interest  in  his  work  that  the  author 
will  be  enabled  to  issue  a  second  and  enlarged  edition,  adding  to  the 
present  work  the  valuable  information  and  documents  that  he  has 
gathered  since  the  time  of  the  publication  of  his  book. 

It  must  suffice  by  way  of  summary  to  state  the  three  great  factors 
of  this  commemoration.  There  is  first  the  wonderful  preservation  of 
this  sanctuary,  with  its  sacramental  vessels,  and  the  organ  that  is 
still  sending  forth  its  melodious  tones  after  leading  the  praises  of  the 
people  for  one  hundred  and  fifteen  years.  Greater  than  this  to  be 
commemorated  today  is  the  remarkable  perpetuation  of  the  true 
Lutheran  faith  over  a  space  of  two  centuries,  in  spite  of  all  the  diffi- 
culties that  have  been  enumerated.  Above  all  we  must  commem- 
orate with  unbounded  gratitude  that  which  is  greater  than  either  of 
these  two  factors  ;  namely,  the  wonderful  love  and  providence  of  God 
to  whom  we  owe  the  preservation  of  the  sanctuary  and  the  perpetua- 
tion of  the  true  faith  of  the  founders.  He  that  ordains  that  mighty 
oaks  from  little  acorns  grow  in  the  kingdom  of  nature,  preserves  the 
places  of  worship  in  the  kingdom  of  grace  by  his  almighty  hand.  By 
his  Holy  Spirit  he  preserves  and  perpetuates  the  truth  in  the  hearts 
of  his  children  that  he  may  never  be  without  a  witness  among  the 
children  of  men.  To  him  therefore  be  all  glory  and  honor,  who  hath 
done  such  wonderful  things  in  the  sight  of  men. 

And  now  have  we  learned  the  great  lessons  of  this  celebration  ?  Do 
we  have  more  sympathy  for  these  sturdy  workers  of  the  early  times, 
and  do  we  appreciate  what  they  did  in  laying  the  foundation  stones 
of  Lutheran  history  and  faith  in  America  ?  Are  we  willing  to  work 
as  earnestly  and  sacrifice  as  deeply  for  our  Church  as  they  did  ?  Our 
opportunities  are  much  greater  and  our  means  far  superior,  can  we 
not  manifest  an  equal  devotion  and  loyalty  ? 

What  a  legacy  of  faith,  love,  and  steadfastness  has  been  received 
by  the  members  of  this  church  and  the  descendants  of  these  Lutheran 
immigrants  !  What  will  you  do  in  regard  to  it  ?  Will  you  appreciate 
it  and  use  it  conscientiously  to  your  own  salvation  and  the  salvation 
of  the  world?     Do  not  sit  in  ease  and  use  your  inheritance  selfishly, 


IO 

but  use  it  lovingly  for  the  good  of  others.  Learn  to  serve  your  Master 
with  heart  and  soul  and  give  yourself  and  your  means  for  his  king- 
dom and  for  his  service. 

We  love  the  venerable  house 

Our  fathers  built  to  God  ; 
In  heaven  are  kept  their  grateful  vows, 

Their  dust  endears  the  sod. 

From  humble  tenements  around 

Came  up  the  pensive  train, 
And  in  the  church  a  blessing  found, 

Which  filled  their  homes  again. 

They  live  with  God,  their  homes  are  dust ; 

But  here  their  children  pray, 
And  in  this  fleeting  lifetime  trust 

To  find  the  narrow  way.  — Emerson. 


Laying  the  Foundation  and  Building  Thereon 

By  the  Rev.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  S.  T.  D. 

Dean  of  the  Lutherayi  Theological  Seminary 

Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Penna. 


The  band  of  immigrants,  who,  two  hundred  years  ago,  founded  this 
congregation,  knew  little  of  the  office  they  were  filling  in  the  building 
up  of  God's  kingdom  on  earth.  With  an  all-wise  Architect  forming 
the  plans  and  supervising  the  details,  a  great  edifice  is  carried  to  com- 
pletion, as  each  in  his  sphere  performs  his  allotted  task,  ignorant 
though  he  may  be  of  the  ultimate  result  of  his  labors  on  earth. 

Of  Him,  and  through  Him,  and  to  Him,  from  Whom  are  all  things, 
came  the  discovery  of  America,  the  commotions  among  the  nations, 
the  movements  of  races,  the  emigration  to  these  shores,  and  the  prep- 
aration, through  long  providential  agencies,  on  both  sides  of  the 
ocean,  of  the  various  elements  which  have  entered  into  the  citizen- 
ship of  this  land. 

We  have  here  to  deal,  not  merely  with  external  and  material,  but 
especially  with  inner  and  spiritual  forces  and  principles. 

No  one  has  ever  claimed  that  the  founders  of  this  congregation  left 
their  homes  in  the  Old  World,  as  foreign  missionaries,  to  convert  the 
aborigines  of  America  to  Christianity,  or  to  evangelize  the  crowds  of 
rough  adventurers  who,  like  ocean  drift,  are  carried  forward  to  the 
frontiers  of  civilization. 

A  missionary  motive  cannot  be  claimed  for  any  emigration  of  that 
period,  even  though  the  suggestion  was  made  in  the  plan  for  the 
Swedish  colony  on  the  Delaware. 

The  motives  which,  for  fully  a  century,  had  impelled  thousands 
of  deeply  religious  people  to  seek  a  home  here,  were  not  of  a  specific- 
ally missionary  character.  Passing  by  the  Dutch  and  Swedish  colo- 
nies, with  their  commercial  ambitions,  it  is  safe  to  assert  that  a  very 
large  proportion  of  both  English  and  German  immigrants,  fled  hither 
from  oppressions  which  affected  not  only  their  temporal,  but 
also  their  spiritual  interests.  Whether  the  persecutions  from 
which  they  had  suffered  had  a  professed  religious,  or  nothing 
but  a  secular  end,  they  were  thoroughly  disheartened,  and  the  more 
enterprising  among  them  gladly  turned  their  backs  forever  from  the 
turmoil  of  the  old  world,  where  they  were  liable  at  any  moment  to 
suffer  from  the  demands  of  monarchs,  whose  rule  was  unlimited  by 
constitutional    restrictions  and   whose  motto  was,  "  I  am  the  State." 


12 

For  a  few  years,  the  anxieties  of  war  may,  indeed,  be  endured  ;  but, 
when,  with  waves  of  conquest,  advancing  and  receding  for  genera- 
tions, like  the  sweep  of  a  pendulum,  on  the  border  land  of  their 
country,  leaving  scarcely  a  respite  from  crushing  taxes  and  sicken- 
ing apprehensions,  with  their  fields  and  vineyards  desolated,  and 
their  sons  given  to  the  sword,  and  all  to  no  purpose — the  hope  of  bet- 
ter things  in  their  home  land  vanished,  while  the  revival  of  religious 
life  stimulated  their  desire  for  a  refuge  in  the  wilderness,  where  they 
might  prepare  in  peace  and  quietness  for  their  eternal  home.  Pastor 
Justus  Falckner,  the  first  Lutheran  pastor  ordained  in  America — from 
1703,  in  charge  of  the  Dutch  Lutheran  Church  in  New  York  city,  in 
accordance  with  his  custom  of  entering  on  the  church  register  a  brief 
prayer,  under  the  record  of  each  baptism,  clearly  reveals  this  feeling 
in  one  of  these  entries.  In  a  beautiful  collect,  he  spiritualizes  the 
fact  of  the  birth  on  the  ocean  of  children  of  these  immigrants  : 
"Almighty  God,  Who,  by  Thy  wondrous  power,  hast  so  ordered  it, 
that  these  children  were  born  upon  the  great  and  dreadful  ocean  ; 
lead  them,  by  Thy  grace,  through  the  tempestuous  sea  of  this  world, 
that  at  last  they  may  all  arrive  at  the  haven  of  the  New  Jerusalem, 
where  all  tyranny  shall  have  an  end." 

And  so,  they  went  forth,  not  knowing  whither  they  went,  braving 
the  less  formidable  terrors  of  the  ocean,  some  to  New  York,  some  to 
the  Carolinas,  some  to  Pennsylvania,  and  your  forefathers  to  Virginia, 
only  to  wrestle  with  new  difficulties,  to  meet  new  trials,  to  be  imposed 
upon  by  new  oppressors,  and  to  learn  the  lesson,  that  ideal  condi- 
tions are  not  to  be  realized  in  any  earthly  country,  and  that,  whether 
in  Europe  or  America,  "  we  must  through  much  tribulation  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

But  who  has  read  of  any  regret  which  your  fathers  expressed  for 
the  change  which  they  had  made  ?  With  courage  and  hope,  they 
faced  their  new  tasks.  In  the  land  which  they  entered,  they  found  a 
hearing  and  relief  for  their  grievances,  such  as  they  had  not  hitherto 
known.  The  nature  of  the  reports  which  thev  sent  back  to  their  old 
home,  may  be  inferred  from  the  speedy  reenforcement  they  received 
from  former  friends  and  neighbors.  They  identified  themselves  and 
all  their  interests  with  the  land  of  their  adoption,  and  bore,  with  a 
willing  heart,  their  share  of  its  responsibilities.  They  stood  as  the 
pickets  of  civilization  in  its  westward  march,  and  interposed  them- 
selves as  a  wall  to  protect  from  French  and  Indians  the  settlements 
on  the  Atlantic  coast.  Sons  of  this  congregation,  among  them,  two, 
who  afterwards  became  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  did  loyal  service  in 
the  earlier  wars  of  this  country.  Nor  in  the  years  that  have  followed, 
have   trans-Atlantic  ideals   ever   received  hearty  sympathy  among  a 


13 

people,  who,  by  long  experience,  know  what  American  citizenship 
means.  There  is  much  meaning  in  the  motto  which  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Carpenter,  a  son  of  this  congregation,  and  for  over  a  quarter  of 
a  century  its  pastor,  and  in  his  boyhood  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  was 
wont  to  write  in  the  accessions  to  his  library  :  "Ubi  libertas,  ibi 
patria"  "  Wherever  there  is  liberty,  there  is  my  country." 

More  important,  still,  are  the  evidences  of  the  religious  character 
of  the  people  of  this  colony.  In  the  history  of  this  congregation,  so 
well  portrayed  by  your  present  pastor,  we  have  an  epitome  of  the 
experience  of  the  Church  in  all  ages.  The  Word  that  is  spoken  is 
never  lost.  The  confession  that  is  made  is  never  fruitless. 
The  life  that  is  planted,  never  entirely  expires.  But  the  path  of  the 
Church,  on  this  earth,  is  in  alternate  light  and  shade  ;  and  every  step 
forward  is  won  at  the  expense  of  patient  waiting  and  arduous  struggle. 

No  mother  Church,  in  their  native  land,  no  organized  churches  in 
the  earlier  settlements,  sent  missionaries  and  evangelists,  to  establish 
among  them  a  missionary  congregation.  This  congregation  is  no 
monument  to  Home  Missionary  agencies.  Whatever  attention  was 
bestowed  upon  them,  came  from  individual  preachers,  the  irregulari- 
ties of  whose  ministry  were  justified  only  by  the  pressing  character 
of  the  emergency.  What  must  the  people  not  have  suffered  for  half 
a  generation,  during  the  sixteen  years  they  were  without  a  pastor  ! 

And,  yet,  thrown  upon  their  own  resources,  and  impelled  bv  the 
necessities  of  their  spiritual  life,  their  prayers  were  answered,  their 
patient  efforts  rewarded,  and  a  ministry  established  here,  not  only  for 
the  congregation  itself,  but  to  be  shared  with  those  wandering  as 
sheep  without  a  shepherd,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge. 

Nor  are  we  to  overlook  the  positive  and  decidedly  Lutheran  charac- 
ter of  the  congregation  in  its  earliest  years.  While  in  the  first  settle- 
ment at  Germanna,  they  gratefully  availed  themselves  of  the  spiritual 
privileges  offered  them  by  their  Reformed  neighbors,  the  relation 
thus  formed  was  never  regarded  otherwise  than  merely  temporary. 
Surely  the  inducements  were  strong,  which  might  have  led  these 
humble  people  to  have  been  satisfied  with  these  provisional  arrange- 
ments ;  for  both  Lutheran  and  Reformed  were  in  a  strange  land,  and 
spake  the  same  foreign  tongue.  But  appreciative  as  those  who  have 
caught  the  spirit  of  the  Lutheran  Church  are,  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
wherever  or  by  whomsoever  preached,  they  cannot  regard  with  indif- 
ference any  portion  of  God's  Word,  which  they  have  learned  to  prize, 
or  the  modes  of  administration,  whose  use  has  been  attended  with 
signal  blessing.  The  hymns,  the  prayers,  the  devotional  books,  the 
catechism,  the  observance  of  the  church  year  with  its  appointed  les- 
sons,  above    all,  the   clear,   direct,  explicit   individualization  of   the 


14 

promise  of  the  Gospel  concerning  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  God's 
favor,  in  the  teaching  of  the  Lutheran  Church  concerning  the  sacra- 
ments, have  been  found  in  their  experience  so  precious,  that,  without 
them,  they  are  not  at  home.  The  provision  made  in  this  church  in 
its  earliest  year  (1727)  for  proper  communion  vessels,  the  care  taken 
for  their  preservation  during  the  civil  war,  and  the  installation  of  a 
pipe  organ  of  an  excellence  unusual  in  a  rural  community,  of  the 
times  which  we  reckon  today  as  primitive,  as  related  in  the  excellent 
history  of  Pastor  Huddle,  are  external  marks  of  the  regard  which 
your  predecessors  had  for  the  usages  of  their  fathers. 

Nor  must  we  pass  by  the  bond  of  fellowship  maintained  with  their 
brethren  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  both  in  Europe  and  in  other  portions 
of  our  country.  The  commissions  sent  for  financial  aid  made  their 
chief  appeal  at  Lutheran  centers.  The  headquarters  of  Pastor  Stoe- 
ver,  while  on  his  errand,  were  in  the  home  of  his  near  relative,  John 
Philip  Fresenius,  a  name  greatly  revered  to  the  present  day,  for 
staunch  adherence  to  the  Lutheran  Confessions,  and  his  deeply  spirit- 
ual interpretation  of  the  Lutheran  faith  in  intensely  practical  ser- 
mons and  other  devotional  literature.  When  your  colonial  govern- 
ment exacted  a  tax  upon  your  people,  to  sustain  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land in  their  midst,  and  cut  off  from  the  Lutheran  Church  just  sources 
of  revenue,  the  aid  obtained  from  the  Lutheran  Church  abroad  en- 
abled your  congregation  to  maintain  its  Lutheran  independence. 

Very  soon,  too,  after  the  formation  of  the  first  Lutheran  Synod  in 
America,  your  second  pastor  (Klug)  turned  for  moral  support  to  his 
brethren  in  the  North.  The  Halle  Reports  narrate  his  visit  to  Phila- 
delphia in  June,  1749,  and  his  expressions  of  the  delight  and  comfort  he 
received  by  fellowship  with  ministerial  brethren  after  his  entire  isola- 
tion for  a  long  time  in  the  wilderness.  For  over  half  a  century  the 
names  of  this  congregation  and  its  pastors  were  on  the  roll  of  the 
synod,  founded  by  Henry  Melchior  Muhlenberg,  known  then  as  the 
Lutheran  Ministerium  of  North  America.  From  this  source  after  the 
death  of  Pastor  Klug,  this  congregation  was,  for  years,  provided  with 
both  temporary  and  permanent  pastors,  and  by  it  both  Pastors  Car- 
penter and  Meyerheffer  received  their  ordination.  The  distance,  but 
still  more  the  undeveloped  condition  of  the  country,  interfered  with 
regularity  of  representation.  Ninety-seven  years  have  passed  since 
your  last  representatives  sat  in  the  sessions  of  the  Mother  Synod. 

This  Hebron  congregation  is  not  simply  a  unit,  which,  when  com- 
bined with  other  congregations,  constitutes  the  Christian  Church  of 
the  world,  or  with  other  Lutheran  congregations,  the  Lutheran  Church 
of  America,  as  Virginia  is  a  State  which,  with  others,  constitutes  the 
United  States.     In  the  strictest  sense,  the  Church  is  not  formed  by  the 


15 

union  of  congregations  or  of  synods;  for  the  Church  is  not  many, 
but  the  One  Body  of  Christ,  which,  indeed,  becomes  apparent  here 
and  there  on  earth,  but  which  underlies  and  supports  all  that  is  seen 
and  localized.  It  is  like  a  river  fed  from  remote  mountain-heads, 
which  sends  up  springs  from  beneath  the  surface,  as  it  pursues  its 
course  ;  or  like  the  one  vein  of  precious  metal,  which  crops  out  at  cer- 
tain points,  although  the  connecting  line  may  not  be  traceable.  As 
in  Apostolic  days,  the  Church  at  Jerusalem,  at  Rome,  at  Antioch,  etc., 
were  the  one  Church  of  Christ  visualized  in  these  ancient  cities,  so  in 
this  congregation,  we  find  the  one  Church,  diffused  throughout  all 
lands  and  ages,  and  made  known  at  this  spot  through  the  common 
confession  made  and  the  sacraments  administered. 

Religious  life  is  diffusive,  and  like  light  and  heat  cannot  be  con- 
fined. There  are  no  mountains  so  high  that  it  will  not  overleap  ;  no 
barriers  can  be  sunk  so  deep,  that  it  will  not  pass  beneath.  Recep- 
tive on  the  one  hand,  it  seeks  on  the  other,  to  impart  through  ever 
widening  circles  what  it  receives. 

The  Church  here  planted  was  a  true  communion  of  saints,  draw- 
ing its  ministers  from  without,  and  sending  others  forth  from  its  own 
midst,  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  those  beyond.  Even  when  one  was 
raised  up  from  your  own  midst,  to  serve  the  congregation  in  which 
he  was  born,  baptized,  and  confirmed,  he  was  prepared  for  his  office 
outside  of  this  parish.  Then,  when,  over  a  century  ago,  some  of  your 
people  went  forth  to  seek  new  homes  in  the  great  west,  your  pastor 
followed  them,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  Home  Missionary  work  in  a 
new  State,  where  he  established  new  centers  of  influence,  whence  to 
transmit  to  still  other  States  the  faith,  in  which,  in  this  secluded  re- 
treat, he  had  been  reared.  But  before  leaving  this  spot,  he  had  in- 
structed your  parochial  school  teacher,  George  Daniel  Flohr,  as  a 
candidate  for  the  ministry,  who,  after  licensure  by  the  Mother  Synod, 
became  the  pioneer  of  our  Church  in  Southwestern  Virginia. 

This,  then,  is  a  far  more  than  a  local  celebration.  We  are  com- 
memorating the  triumphs  of  divine  grace  in  the  entire  Church  as 
illustrated  by  what  has  transpired  here.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  there 
have  doubtless  been  errors  committed,  opportunities  neglected,  ad- 
vantages lost,  but  God's  grace  has  prevailed  over  and  beyond  man's 
weakness. 

The  very  circumstances  that  turned  the  tide  of  German  immigra- 
tion away  from  the  South,  thus  checking  the  rapid  growth  within  it 
of  the  Lutheran  Church,  enabled  your  people  at  an  earlier  period  than 
in  some  other  sections  of  the  Church  to  appreciate  the  importance  of 
its  prompt  Americanization,  and  the  inner  development  of  its  capa- 
bilities.    The   Synod  of  Virginia   here   convened,  illustrates  this  in 


i6 

still  higher  measure.  Like  this  congregation,  it  has  developed  apart 
from  the  main  lines  of  our  country's  commerce  and  trade.  It  has 
stood,  I  infer,  for  two  great  principles  ;  first,  that  the  Lutheran  faith 
is  a  trust  which  cannot  be  surrendered,  but  must  be  confessed  and 
maintained  at  all  hazards  ;  and,  secondly,  that,  for  such  purpose,  the 
language  of  the  land  must  become  the  language  of  the  Church,  edu- 
cational institutions  must  be  established  on  solid  foundations,  and  a 
new  literature  arise  as  the  witness  of  our  faith. 

Humble  though  the  efforts  made  have  been,  they  have  been  fruit- 
ful not  only  on  Southern  soil,  but  in  all  other  portions  of  the  country, 
whither  your  sons  have  gone.  For  no  external  boundaries  have  ever 
been  able  to  separate  the  Church  North  from  the  Church  South,  or 
the  life  of  the  one  section  from  that  of  the  other.  On  paper,  they  may 
be  recorded  as  separate  churches,  but  so  far  as  their  inner  existence  is 
concerned,  they  are  one  and  the  same  Church,  having  the  same  faith, 
sustained  by  the  same  hopes,  impelled  by  the  same  love,  assailed 
by  the  same  foes,  aided  by  the  same  allies,  wrestling  with  the  same 
problems,  employing  the  same  means  administered  by  the  same 
methods,  guided  by  the  same  standards.  We  preach  the  same  Word, 
confess  the  same  Faith,  and  administer  the  same  Sacraments.  Where 
the  marks  of  the  Church  are  the  same  we  are  one  and  the  same 
Church.  We  are  reproved  by  the  same  Law,  comforted  by  the  same 
Gospel,  admitted  to  the  same  covenant  by  means  of  the  same  Bap- 
tism, and  assured  of  the  same  Everlasting  Life  in  the  same  Holy 
Supper.  As  there  are  no  mountain  ranges  so  high  or  rivers  so 
broad  and  deep  as  to  exclude  the  currents  of  our  nation's  life,  much 
less  can  they  bar  out  the  movements  which  come  from  God's  Spirit. 
There  is  not  one  particular  type  of  Christianity  or  Lutheranism  best 
adapted  for  the  thirty-eighth,  and  another  for  the  fortieth,  degree 
of  north  latitude.  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line  ran  right  through  the 
farm  of  my  ancestors  ;  and  yet,  I  have  never  heard  that  they  found  it 
needful  to  treat  the  crops  on  the  Pennsylvania,  differently  from 
those  on  the  Maryland  side,  or  that  when  harvested  the  grain  was 
carefully  separated  according  to  the  political  divisions  of  the  coun- 
try. Neither  North,  nor  South,  nor  East,  nor  West,  either  can  or  has 
ever,  for  any  long  time,  stood  absolutely  alone.  They  are  mutually 
interdependent.  The  North  has  drawn  upon  the  South  for  many  of 
its  most  influential  leaders  ;  and,  in  many  important  crises  of  congre- 
gations and  institutions,  the  South  has  in  like  manner  looked  to  the 
North.  The  ideal  is  not  worthy  of  being  cherished,  of  a  time,  when 
each  portion  of  the  Church  will  be  sufficient  for  itself,  and  that  in  the 
North  there  shall  be  no  succesors  of  the  Krauths,  the  Schmuckers, 
the  Storks,  the  Harkeys,  no  Strobel,  no  Seiss,  no  Greenwald,  no  Re- 


17 

pass  from  the  South  ;  and,  in  the  South,  no  successors  from  the 
North,  of  a  Peter  Muhlenberg,  a  Christian  Streit,  a  Gottlieb  Schober,  a 
John  Bachman,  an  Ernest  L.  Hazelius,  a  D.  M.  Gilbert,  an  E.  T. 
Horn,  or  an  A.  G.  Voigt. 

Lines  there  are  which,  under  peculiar  conditions,  had  once  to  be 
observed,  but  which,  in  the  face  of  new  issues,  have  less  significance  ; 
and  happy  are  we,  both  North  and  South,  if  we  can  adjust  ourselves 
to  changes  in  progress,  and,  amidst  them  all,  adhere  with  steadfast 
devotion  to  our  common  faith  which  never  changes. 

Every  church  communion,  like  every  individual,  has  its  own  pecu- 
liar calling  to  fulfill.  So  it  is  with  every  age  and  every  generation  of 
the  Church.  Some  of  the  burdens  borne  by  our  fathers  still  rest 
upon  us  ;  but  relieved  of  other  responsibilities  that  rested  on  their 
shoulders,  there  are,  instead  of  them,  new  tasks  to  tax  our  energies. 
The  religion  of  the  Patriarchs,  however  true,  assumed  new  forms  as 
time  advanced.  Apostolic  Christianity  did  not  remain  permanently 
confined  to  limits  observed  when  the  Apostles,  even  with  Pentecostal 
zeal,  went  forth  to  convert  the  world  to  Christ.  Long  established 
precedents,  while  not  abruptly  broken,  had  to  give  way  before  the 
new  life  implanted  by  Him  who  said,  "  Behold,  I  make  all  things 
new."  The  old  was  exchanged  for  the  new,  not  because  the  former 
was  old,  but  because  the  new  is  contained  in  the  old,  and  must  grow 
out  of  it,  if  the  past  is  to  live  in  the  future. 

The  pioneer  work  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America  is  over.  The 
isolation  of  our  country  from  other  countries  can  no  longer  be  main- 
tained. The  period  is  likewise  over  for  the  detachment  of  any  single 
congregation  or  synod  or  so-called  general  body  from  other  congrega. 
tions,  synods,  and  so-called  general  bodies,  provided  they  have  the 
same  faith  and  confession  and  be  the  same  Church  manifesting  itself 
at  different  places  and  under  varying  conditions.  Our  Lutheran 
Church  in  America  cannot  be  separated  from  the  Lutheran  Church 
of  other  nations,  nor  the  Holy  Christian  Church  among  us,  from  the 
Holy  Christian  Church  throughout  all  the  world. 

Our  path  is  not  self-chosen.  Our  fathers  made  experiments  accord- 
ing to  their  light  and  opportunities,  with  results  for  which  we  cannot 
be  too  grateful.  But  we  must  build  on  the  foundation  which  they  laid, 
or  their  work  will  be  forgotten. 

For  our  Church  in  America,  this  is  a  critical  moment.  We  are  at  a 
turning  point  in  the  history  of  the  entire  world.  While  convinced 
that  it  is  a  decisive  hour,  we  are  in  perplexity  as  to  the  end  towards 
which  the  commotion  and  horrors  daily  transpiring,  are  tending. 

It  is  not  religion,  but  the  lack  of  religion  ;  not  the  faith  of  the 
Reformation,  but  the  lack  of  this  faith  ;  not,  in  any  sense,  Lutheran- 


i8 

ism,  but  the  purely  secular  spirit  and  purely  material  standards  which 
have  precipitated  the  crisis  ;  not  zeal  for  the  kingdom  of  God — a  spir- 
itual kingdom,  dwelling  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  coming  not  with 
observation,  but  the  revival  of  the  ideals  of  the  Alexanders  and 
Caesars  and  Napoleons,  that  is  responsible  for  what  we  have  been 
hearing  with  anguished  hearts  for  the  last  three  years. 

In  the  face  of  the  most  serious  departures  from  the  Lutheran  faith, 
especially  in  the  land,  where  it  had  its  first  triumphs — although  not 
exclusively  there — the  call  comes  to  us,  in  common  with  all  elsewhere 
still  true  to  what  our  name  means,  to  turn  away  from  the  critical 
spirit  of  modern  times,  and  to  declare  once  more  with  all  clearness 
and  force  the  Gospel  for  a  bleeding  and  dying  world.  From  the 
speculations  of  dreamers  who  substitute  philosophy  for  religion  ;  from 
the  intolerance  of  modern  liberalism,  which  would  test  even  the 
Word  of  God,  according  to  its  various  hypotheses  concerning  the 
universe  ;  it  belongs  to  us  in  an  intensely  practical  country,  to  con- 
fess and  expound  that  truth  which,  in  all  ages,  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth. 

When  the  nation  is  summoning  recruits  to  swell  a  mighty  army, 
shall  not  our  Church  call  an  unprecedented  number  of  men  into  the 
ministry,  and  provide  for  their  thorough  equipment?  And  shall  not 
our  families  freely  give  us  of  their  sons  who  escape  from  these  dread 
crises,  for  the  war  which  brings  no  physical  harm,  but  diffuses  peace 
on  earth  and  relief  from  all  earth's  pains  ?  Should  there  not  be  a 
mustering  of  hosts  wherever  the  Church  is  planted,  and  a  new  align- 
ment of  forces  and  revision  of  methods  commensurate  with  the  great- 
ness of  the  issues  and  the  vastness  of  the  field  ?  Shall  we  be  content 
merely  to  provide  for  the  perpetuation  of  congregations  and  their 
gradual  growth  on  lines  fixed  generations  ago,  or  shall  not  the  trum- 
pet sound  for  a  signal  advance  such  as  has  never  before  been  attempted  ? 
Shall  not  allies  be  welcomed  to  our  side  who  have  heretofore  stood 
aloof,  and  shall  we  not  be  willing  to  sacrifice  everything  but  the  truth 
itself,  that  misunderstandings  may  be  removed,  and  that  we  all  shall 
unite  as  one  body  of  believers,  pressing  forward  for  the  victory  which 
God  has  promised? 

For  this  reason  we  hail  with  joy  the  vision  of  The  United  Lutheran 
Church  in  America  ;  not  that  it  is  to  be  a  Church  without  a  struggle— 
for  it  is  the  Church's  perpetual  lot  on  earth  to  be  militant — or  with 
the  expectation  that  all  of  our  ideals,  or  any  of  them  will  be  speedily 
realized,  but  that,  each  element  embraced  contributing  its  own  dis- 
tinctive features  to  the  common  cause,  we  may  lay  the  foundation  for 
greater  things  in  the  future  than  those  we  enjoy  today. 

For  to  the  end  of  time,  the  Church,  if  it  is  to  fulfill  its  mission  on 


19 

earth,  must  be  a  nursery,  iu  which  to  rear  the  feeble  and  train  them 
for  vigorous  manhood.  It  must  be  a  hospital,  which  is  not  meant  to 
exclude  those  unable  to  meet  the  test  of  a  rigid  medical  examination, 
but  which  is  established  for  the  purpose  of  gathering  within  itself  the 
sick  and  injured  and  restoring  them  to  health.  It  is  a  reformatory, 
whose  inmates  have  all  of  them  weaknesses,  that  must  be  borne  and 
dealt  with,  as  each  case,  with  its  peculiar  experience,  requires.  The 
Church  is  no  aristocracy  of  historical  antecedents  or  culture,  or  of 
intellectual  or  spiritual  attainments,  but  the  people  of  God  of  every 
rank  and  condition  in  life,  and  every  degree  of  convalescence  from 
the  dire  disease  with  which  all  are  born,  ready  to  share  every  advant- 
age possessed  and  every  benefit  enjoyed  with  every  man  and  woman 
and  child  for  whom  Christ  died.  It  reaches  its  divine  ideal  only 
when,  like  Christ,  it  gives  to  others  all  that  it  has;  and,  yet,  in  giving 
is  itself  enriched. 

The  United  Lutheran  Church  of  America  should  be  organized,  not 
on  national,  but  on  international  lines.  As  the  Lutheran  Church  is  of 
many  nationalities,  the  Lutheran's  loyalty  to  his  church  will  bind  to- 
gether diverse  nations,  and  train  them  to  supranational  ideals  and 
modes  of  thought. 

Rising  above  all  national  standards,  the  United  Lutheran  Church 
must  make  its  sole  claim  for  existence  upon  its  fidelity  to  the  Gospel. 
Its  teaching  must  be  positive,  and  not  a  mass  of  negations.  What 
the  heart  craves  is  clear  and  definite  assertions  of  religious  truth— no 
mere  guesses  at  truth,  but  the  promises  of  Jesus  Christ  which  are  yea 
and  amen  forever.  An  agonizing  conscience  can  never  be  satisfied 
with  glittering  generalities. 

We  are  looking  for  a  United  Lutheran  Church,  which  will  not 
spend  its  main  strength  in  criticism,  but  in  constructive  efforts  ;  that 
will  not  pull  down  except  to  build  up. 

We  are  looking  for  what  may  in  a  certain  sense  be  called  a  demo- 
cratic church  ;  i.  e.,  one  composed  chiefly,  not  of  ministers  and  theo- 
logians, of  ecclesiastical  agents  and  ecclesiastical  diplomats,  but  com- 
posed of  the  people,  administered  under  God  by  the  people,  and 
directing  all  its  activities  towards  fitting  the  people  for  God's  service 
here  and  heirship  in  heaven. 

The  United  Lutheran  Church  should  be  historical  in  its  temper, 
cherishing  every  truth  confessed  in  the  past  as  a  precious  possession, 
and  at  the  same  time  progressive  ;  observant  of  precedents,  and  yet 
not  mechanically  bound  by  them,  fuli  of  the  freedom  of  the  Refor- 
mation period,  because  its  foundations  are  sure  and  its  truth  is  many- 
sided,  and  its  capabilities  of  development  are  exhaustless.  Its  sym- 
pathies will  be  wide,  and  its  aspirations  high  as  the  heavens  are  raised 
above  the  earth. 


Princeton  Theoloqical  S^naw  Ubraries 


1    1012  01233   5065 


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